Exercise 11 - Local Library Recommendations for Library 2.0 Technologies

This post examines best practice Library 2.0 technologies in use around the world and seeks to make recommendations for the incorporation of appropriate technologies by my local library service. Before we examine the possibilities two things need to be understood: 

1. as noted in Exercise 10 - Kuring-gai Libraries are not a great user of technology; and
2. we will use the following definition of Library 2.0, extracted from an Adelaide City Libraries Report, to inform decision making-

“Library 2.0 is the next generation model for delivery of library services. It encourages user participation both in the physical and virtual services they want, while attempting to reach new users and better service current ones through improved customer driven tools and applications. This includes online tools and applications and an increased level of conversation between the user and the library service. The library user becomes a participant, co-creator, builder and a consultant.“

Library 2.0 for Children

This is perhaps a difficult area as many children will not interact with the library catalogue or website until they are almost in their teens.  Furthermore, most will be under the age at which social media platforms can be legitimately joined. 

However Christchurch City Libraries does this very well with a visual section just for kids.  Each icon is colourful and relates to the different ways the library reaches out to the children  - there are articles, reading lists, blogposts, and links to the website.  Comments can be left on blogs.

Adelaide City Libraries have embraced Library 2.0.  See this reference paper for a discussion of the 6 main ways they have incorporated 2.0 technologies into their catalogue interface.  The incorporation is not really clear from the general homepage, only once you have navigated to the catalogue does the transformation become clear – the catalogue even has a modern look and feel to it.  The menu down the left hand side, certainly helps to make the catalogue more approachable, and links to events etc are found on this page too. I loved the What to Read Next button which produced a page with links to interactive sites including the Little Big Book Club.  This is an external site with reading suggestions for children.  It not only suggests books but displays the catalogue information and allows reviews to be posted of each title.  admittedly tough, this would be done by adults as this site caters for younger children.

Once an item has been located in the Adelaide City Libraries, the catalogue contains a location which displays reviews and allows a logged in user to place reviews.  This feature would be accessible to computer literate older children   Reviewers can also sign in via their Facebook or twitter account.  Greyed out text indicates that the ChiliFresh app is also available through Adelaide’s SirsiDynix system.  Furthermore under each item is a link to allow you to like it in Facebook.  See the extracted image below:

Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries allows browsing by audience via a link from a menu bar on their home page.  This includes a Birth-5 years, and a Kids button. Choosing the Kids button brings up a colourful page with links the following:

·     news,

·     staff lists,

·     blogposts, 

·     new in books,

·     staff picks and

·     summer reading. 

Also, once an individual title is selected via the catalogue there is a wealth of information to tempt younger readers:

·     cover image,

·     book summary,

·     availability and locations,

·     place hold button, and

·     an opinion section which provides for community activity – comments, individual summaries and more which allows the possibility to post notices, quotes and videos.

I’d like to see Kuring-gai’s library website upgraded to be more than the merely functional site that is it at present.  It obviously isn’t well used because if you click on “Stuff for Kids” under the New Resources section the Children’s Book Council Awards Shortlist is from 2012!!

The library needs some quick drop down lists (like the ones from Yarra Plenty described above) so children’s information can be readily accessed rather than each item only being located via a traditional catalogue search. 

I’d also like to see some links to sites like Inside a Dog which is a Library 2.0 site established by the State Library of Victoria – it bills itself as “All about books – by young people, for young people.” Whilst the site is curated, all reviews and recommendations are posted by kids and teens.  The exception being content posted by authors themselves. 

Library 2.0 in Adult Fiction

Comments, ratings and quotations, summaries and blogs are the main ways that Library 2.0 is used in adult collections.  The text to the right is extracted from the Yarra Plenty Libraries FAQ section to illustrate the reasons libraries encourage user content.  Regular users of social media will not need this encouragement but the explanation can make it more comfortable for other members of the community to contribute:

I have reviewed the following library sites: Yarra Plenty (VIC), Christchurch City (NZ) Hennepin County (MN), and Seattle (WA).  All have great, Library 2.0 rich catalogues and it is very noticeable that they all use Bibliocommons software to achieve a modern, interactive feel and generate community contribution to the catalogue.  New York Public Library uses Encore, whilst Sydney City uses the adaptable Aurora software favoured by the ShoreLink libraries.  All of these libraries, without exception, maintain at least one library blog which draws interest and allows the community to comment and interact with their librarians.  Blogs are usually able to be subscribed to by RSS feeds.

I would love to see the Community Opinion Section that appears in both the Yarra Plenty Libraries and the Hennepin County Library (it’s clearly the same software) adopted by Kuring-gai, although for practical and economic reasons I expect this may not be possible in their near future.  The Yarra Plenty Libraries pages appear well populated by their local community – note that there are 16 comments on the extraction to the left.  I have not shown the actual community comments simply for reasons of length.

I recognise that it difficult for many NSW public libraries to even create an interesting webpage, let alone address Library 2.0, as many simply run off the local council’s website (as Kuring-gai does).  This seems to create a number of constraints and leads to a rather boring and uninspiring online interaction.  Even Adelaide City Library suffers from this until you open the catalogue.  It does not have to be the case though.  Coffs Harbour City Library has a stand alone web page which has a format that is immediately more attractive and interactive, and nav bar tabs that are quick to use and relevant to the way a community would seek to use the library.

As a priority I’d like to see Kuring-gai make a more interesting library website which softly began to introduce Library 2.0:

1. At minimal cost the library could ask staff to create a blog or two, each aimed at a different demographic, and allowing patrons to comment on the blog entries. 
2. It should really reformat the MyLibrary webpage so things such as new books, and links to the blog/s could actually be located without a half hour search.  A more modern format would be via the use of icons or buttons rather than a list. Also a column on the my library page to either the library’s existing facebook or twitter account (as Coffs Harbour has done) may help to generate more traffic and interest. 
3. If possible, it would be nice to reformat the OPAC slightly so that the links to LibraryThing and Google Books are actually visible – its hard for patrons to find and use this service that the library is subscribing to.

Library 2.0 for Youth

This is perhaps the most obvious use of Library 2.0 platforms as teens love to use social media, and libraries are able to attract teenagers by providing spaces to hang out together with casual seating areas near charge points for chatting and quieter, designated study areas.  Homework help is a popular service provided by libraries around the world.

Seattle library has a comprehensive calendar of homework help times and locations online.  It is interactive allowing you to subscribe to an RSS feed and download selected sessions to your calendar.  

Yarra Plenty Regional Library has a great visual section for teens but lacks some of the obvious links; the Staff lists are done by individuals who can be followed through the website – it would be great to link these to Twitter or perhaps Instagram where the teens can subscribe to get updates of new reading lists or events in their social media platform.  In Kuring-gai, the main library at Gordon is a popular hang out for teenagers and has areas furbished in a way that is attractive and welcoming to them.  It even hosts some great events, but these are almost impossible to locate on the webpage - who would know about them and what teenager would bother to search for some time to find them?

It would be great to see some blogs and social media feeds created on the MyLibrary page to attract teens and make the online space as welcoming as the physical location.  The HSC and other teen events should be sent out via an Instagram feed, but the existence of the feed needs to be advertised in the appropriate section of the website so that the students can subscribe to it.